On its face, this appeal decision appeared to be routine. The Waterloo Board denied the Appellant's open enrollment application because it was filed past the deadline. There was no "statutory good cause" for the late filing. However, Appellant wanted to open enroll her son to the Hudson District for the 1998-99 school year because she feared for his safety at West High School.

Alan's troubles began in the summer before he began ninth grade. He was beaten up by four students. One of the students attends West, but Alan "doesn't know who he is" and hasn't identified him to school authorities. He was threatened by another student in his class in the fall of 1997. On November 20, 1997, he was assaulted by a student, and "beaten up" outside of the high school during the lunch hour. He is afraid of retaliation, so he has not identified this student either.

Ms. Faulkner wanted to open enroll out of Waterloo "immediately". Mr. Cooper, director of Student Services, said she couldn't do that. Mrs. Faulkner thought the deadline was October 31st (instead of January 1st) so she did not pursue open enrollment.

After this, there were two more "incidents". The first involved a student who pursued Alan while Alan was delivering newspapers on his paper route. The second incident occurred on January 26th, when a student pushed Alan into a locker at school. Mrs. Faulkner applied for open enrollment knowing that her application was late. The only way Appellant's application could be granted is if the State Board exercised its discretion under section 282.18(18)(1997).

In section 282.18 cases involving harassment, the State Board has followed the principles enunciated in In re Melissa J. Van Bemmel, 14 D.o.E. App. Dec. 281(1997). This case does not meet the Van Bemmel criteria because most of the incidents, and the most egregious ones, occurred prior to the open enrollment deadlines; Mrs. Faulkner and Alan have not been willing to identify the students or work with the administration to solve the problem; and Mrs. Faulkner refused to consider a transfer to East High School, which would appear to be a reasonable solution within the District.